Imus incident highlights double standard

When news of the Don Imus debacle broke out last week, I had to go check it out for myself. I very well know that anything you get secondhand-especially from the mass news media-is going to have spin on it. So I went straight to Youtube and watched the original, unedited audio clip so I could understand what was said-and in what context.

My initial reaction is that I thought it was funny. The actual words in and of themselves really were not that funny, but the context in which he used them was. Here we have two elite collegiate basketball teams competing for a national title, and he calls one team a bunch of nappy-headed hos. Note that this is a college team and that it's likely at least half the girls on the team had at least as much education or intelligence as Imus himself. All of this made the context of his words so outrageous and so over the top that I couldn't help but find humor in it.

It's obvious not everyone saw the humor. Due to the internet-driven amplification machine, which includes pretty much all video and media websites, this was all over the news in less than two days. Shortly thereafter, the vultures of political correctness promptly swooped in and picked Imus's bones clean of any sort of career he could have hoped to have after that point.

Now before I go off about how incredibly stupid and hypocritical this is, let me just say I thought his remarks were rude and certainly uncalled for. That's it. Not racist, but rude and uncalled for. But also keep in mind that Imus is paid to be offensive. He's been paid to be offensive for many years. If he were clean-cut and middle-of-the-road, no one would know his name.

The only reason anyone had a problem with what Imus said is because he was old, rich and white. In a way, he was a symbol of old school racism. On the other hand, if you're 26 years old and black, you can very easily become a millionaire rapper by calling someone a "nappy-headed ho." If you're old, rich and white and call someone a "nappy headed ho," you'll find yourself out of a career and on your knees begging for Al Sharpton's forgiveness within 48 hours.

That's just how the machine works. In America today, it's not entirely inappropriate to use derogatory, degrading and otherwise racially and ethnically offensive language-you just have to "buy" the right to use it with some sort of perceived vulnerability or humility. This means that if you're black, it's not inappropriate to use degrading language against black people. If you're a black comedian, you can get away saying almost anything. Go listen to some of Chris Rock's routines for reference. Here's the kicker: when this self-generated, hip-hop culture driven, hate language against black people is spewed, where is Al Sharpton then? Is it only considered offensive, harmful and derogatory if a white person says it?

The problem with Al Sharpton (and to be fair, many others) is that he's fighting the wrong fight. He still thinks that if we can just eliminate white-on-black racism, all of black people's problems will be solved. That ideology is firmly stuck in the early- to mid-1900s. That fight is over. We have new and much more serious problems to face here in the year 2007. Such problems include broken families, neglected and illegitimate children, lack of education and lack of proper role models.

Part of the problem with addressing these issues is that they are not popular fights to pick. When crusading against white bigotry, everyone loves you. When blaming your problems on other people, everyone loves you. However, when you turn things around and start laying a lot of the responsibility and blame at the feet of your own people, all of a sudden you're not so popular.

So which is more damaging to black progress in America-some washed-up old geezer with a radio show calling someone nappy-headed or thousands of rap songs (produced by rappers that many kids these days worship) that glorify drugs and violence, degrade women and mock education? Where is the outrage? Where are the protests? Where are the people getting publicly shamed, then fired? Talk about not being able to see the forest through the trees.